NBC airs most-watched Summer Games opening ceremony on record

40.7 million average viewers tops
Atlanta opening ceremony; nearly 6 million more than Beijing; and 15
million more than Athens, the last European Olympics

Highest-rated Friday night on any
network in a decade

In the more than 50 years of televised
Olympics, NBC's coverage of the opening ceremony of the London
Olympics (8 p.m. - 12:02 a.m.) is the most-watched for a Summer
Games on record with 40.7 million average viewers, topping the
Atlanta Games (39.8 million). Friday night's viewership is nearly 6
million more than the 2008 Beijing Olympics (34.9 million) and 15
million more than the 2004 Athens Olympics (25.4 million), the last
European Olympics.

"This audience number for the London
opening ceremony is a great early sign that our strategy of driving
people to watch NBC in primetime is working. We look forward to the
next 16 nights of compelling Olympic competition," said NBC Sports
Group Chairman Mark Lazarus

The opening ceremony on NBC earned a
21.0/37 national rating/share, the best for a non-U.S. Summer
Olympics ever, and the second best for a non-U.S. Games (summer or
winter) in 36 years - since Innsbruck in 1976 (23.2/37).

Friday night's opening ceremony
national rating of 21.0/37 is 12 percent higher than Beijing in 2008
(18.8/34) and 44 percent higher than Athens in 2004 (14.6/27).

The 21.7 rating for the night was
the highest-rated Friday night on any network since the opening
ceremony of the Salt Lake City Games (25.2 on Feb. 8, 2002).